Salt and pepper shaker



Aug. 10, 19 8- o H. CROWELL SALT AND PEPPER SHAKER Filed Dec. 27, 1946 Oscar H. Crowell Patented Aug. l0, 1948 burrs!) STATES PATENT OFFICE,

SALT AND PEPPER SHAKER Oscar H. Crowell, Russellville, Ala.

Application December 27, 1946, Serial No. 718,702

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in salt and pepper shakers and more particularly to a container having separate compartments therein and providing a novel dispensing top adapted to selectively discharge the contents from the respective compartments.

An important object is to provide a perforated top for each compartment, said tops sloping in upwardly diverging relation from the center of the container and providing an integrally formed V-shaped resilient closure for the tops to close the perforations thereof, said closure being operated by push-button means.

A further object is to provide a device of this character designed for easily constructing the same from plastic or other suitable material and including a removable substantially air-tight bottom for filling the compartments.

Another object is to provide an article of this character of simple and practical construction, which is neat and attractive in appearance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view, and

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the top of one of the compartments and showing the closure therefor in open position.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates a hollow body of predetermined shape and preferably constructed of suitable plastic or other material to facilitate molding of the body in a desired shape.

The body is open at its bottom to form a container and is provided with a partition 6 separating the container into a pair of compartments 1 and 8 adapted to contain different condiments, such as salt and pepper.

The lower edges of the container are reduced in thickness as shown at 9 to form a. shoulder ill, the reduced edge 9 being inserted in a groove II in the upper surface of a bottom wall [2, the bottom being of reduced thickness at its central portion to provide a downwardly extending flange I3 at its edges to rest on a supportin surface. An attaching screw 14 is threaded upwardly through the bottom l2 and lower edge of the partition 6 to removably secure the bottom in substantially air-tight fitting engagement to the lower edge of the container.

The top of the container is closed by integrally molded perforated top walls 15 and 16 which are also integrally molded with the upper edge of partition 6 and the top walls [5 and I6 slope upwardly from the partition toward an adjacent side of the container to form a trough H in the top wall extending longitudinally above the partition from one end of the container to the other. A web I8 integrally molded with the container partially closes each end if the trough.

A resilient V-shaped closure I9 is positioned in the trough to provide a pair of resilient closure plates 20 and 2| seating flatly against the sloping top walls to close the perforations therein. A rod 22 extends longitudinally in the valley of the closure 19 with its ends anchored in the webs 18 to hold the closure in position.

A plunger 23 is slidably mounted in the upper edge of opposite side walls of the container, the outer end of each plunger being formed with a push-button 24 and the inner ends of the plungers bearing against the under sloping sides of the respective closure plates 20 and 2| to raise the upper edges of the plates by an inward movement of the push-buttons whereby to sift contents from the compartments upon inverting the container.

The spring tension of the plates close the same and move the plungers outwardly upon release of the push-buttons.

In View of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the de vice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

A salt and pepper shaker comprising a container formed into a pair of compartments each having an oppositely sloping sifter top forming a trough at the center of the container, a V-shaped resilient closure positioned in the trough and closing the Sifter tops, a rod anchored at its ends to the container and extending longitudinally above the valley of the closure to provide a central fulcrum for either end of the closure, said closure being free of the rod and resting free of the sloping sifter tops, and manually operated means engaging the underside of the closure to 5 raise the ends thereof.

OSCAR H. CROWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent:

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